Parking ticket

[Rich25]

I have received a parking ticket through the post for an incident in December. I nipped into the bank (less than 3 mins as I know there are wardens around and I had no change). When I came out there was a warden typing into his machine, but he not yet produced a ticket. I jumped in the car and drove off.

The ticket I received is a double fine, as I did not pay in time, but then I never received a ticket in the first place! I believed that the ticket had to be on the windscreen to be valid (?), and that the wardens now carried cameras to proove they had been correctly served. In my case, the ticket had not even been written!

Does anyone have any suggested course of action as this seems grossly unfair? What is to stop them typing in plates at random!

[greenie]

"If you have received a ticket (called a Penalty Charge Notice or PCN) when parking on-street and you wish to appeal the ticket you should write to the address detailed on the back of the ticket, or contact your local council for the address if it is not given, within 14 days of receiving the ticket (please check this timeframe by contacting the local authority if you received the ticket in Scotland). If your initial appeal is rejected and you wish to continue to pursue the matter, you can then contact an independent adjudicator. The adjudicators contact details are:
National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS), for England and Wales:
Web: www.parking-appeals.gov.uk
E-mail: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone]"

[crackedfinger]

For it to be a valid ticket it has to be posted on your car or handed to you in person.

If you drive off before receiving the ticket it is not valid. problem is what happens if they claim that it was placed on your windscreen?

Try appealing anyway as it might work out fine.

[Rich25]

Thats what I thought. He hadnt even printed the thing and I had gone! I think they started issuing them with digital cameras to prove location, time, and ticket served etc. Does anyone know the exact bit of legislation that states it must be on the windscreen?

[RedTuscan]

If the ticket was being issued by a council parking attendant then it has to be given to you or attached to the car.

If the ticket was being issued by a traffic warden or a policeman, then it can be sent to you through the post.

[Rich25]

Surely they need to actually send you the ticket though, giving you a chance to pay in the first place? Rather than the first you hear is you have not paid a fine you weren't aware of and the penalty has now been doubled!

[BigGriff]

Mmmmmm! so you admit to parking illegally and get caught but did not wait to get the ticket.... already sounds like a loser to me!

Think you might appeal the time to pay bit, but you sound well and truly knackered on the actual offence of illegal parking.

Good luck. The more of us that appeal to any offence the slower the wheels grind and the more inoperable the system becomes.

[NJW 77]

Rich25 said:

I have received a parking ticket through the post for an incident in December. I nipped into the bank (less than 3 mins as I know there are wardens around and I had no change). When I came out there was a warden typing into his machine, but he not yet produced a ticket. I jumped in the car and drove off. The ticket I received is a double fine, as I did not pay in time, but then I never received a ticket in the first place! I believed that the ticket had to be on the windscreen to be valid (?), and that the wardens now carried cameras to proove they had been correctly served. In my case, the ticket had not even been written! Does anyone have any suggested course of action as this seems grossly unfair? What is to stop them typing in plates at random!

A couple of years back I 'caught' a traffic warden writing me out a ticket (old style, pen and paper). As he hadnt completed the ticket I did the old usual "Its OK mate, Im off", smiled and jumped in the car, started it up and started to drive off. I noticed in my mirror that as I was pulling away said warden stuck the PCN on the rear wheel arch. So I stopped, reversed back up, jumped out the car and asked him what he thought he was doing as it was not stuck to the windscreen etc. Totally ignoring me he leant forward, pulled the PCN off the car, finished filling in the details (he had only part filled the thing in) then still ignoring me, he walked to the front of the car and stuck it on the windscreen with one of those smarmy smirks.

Bar Steward

[petclub]

RedTuscan is correct about police and traffic wardens. This is there because some people deliberately drive off whilst a ticket is being written. Sadly, there is unlikely to be any 'defence' as to whether the first ticket was sent or not, the assumption will be it has (unless there is evdience to the contrary; which there is very unlikely to be).

I don't know about the Local Authority ones though, perhaps you could check on a website?

I think that if it were me, I'd write in and offer to pay the initial part but complain about the excess charge; it may work and save you some money. Cheers,